Once in a great while, a special person emerges in the history of science and medicine whose unique set of characteristics sheds light on an entire disorder and sometimes even on the mysteries of the human brain. Tito is such a person. Although he is severely autistic and nearly nonverbal, his ability to communicate through his extraordinary writing is astonishing. At the age of three, Tito was diagnosed with severe autism, but his mother, with boundless hope and determination, read to him and taught him to write in English. She also challenged him to write his own stories. The result of their efforts is this remarkable book—written when he was 8 to 11 years old—comprising profound and startling philosophical prose and poetry. His beautifully crafted language reveals how it feels to be locked inside an autistic body and mind. During a recent New York Timesinterview, Tito scrawled on a yellow pad, “I need to write . . . It has become a part of me.” The Mind Treeis the work of an artist. With each page, Tito bursts through his silence into a world of art, beauty, and hope.